Top UK e-commerce sites fail to protect 'password' password-havers from selves

Really... you don't lock 'em out after multiple tries? - survey

Top UK e-commerce sites are not doing enough to safeguard users from their own password-related foibles, according to a new study.

A review of password security at the top 100 e-commerce sites found two in three (66 per cent) accept notoriously weak passwords such as “123456” or “password”, putting users in danger.

The first quarterly review by password manager and digital wallet firm Dashlane also found two in three (66 per cent) of e-commerce sites make no attempt to block entry after 10 incorrect password entries.

Sites that fail to implement rudimentary measures to block brute force attacks include Amazon UK, Next, Tesco and New Look. Hackers often run malicious software that can run thousands of passwords during log-ins to breach accounts, a tactic that a simple policy of locking out individuals after a given number of failed password entries would thwart.

Dashlane examined the e-commerce sites using a set of 26 criteria, including mandatory password length, acceptance of the 10 most commonly hacked passwords and whether or not they displayed users’ password in plain text. Each criterion was given a merit or demote point value, leading to a possible total score between -100 and 100 for each site.
 
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